Journalists temporarily flee Bolivia after harassment

October 19, 2012 5:23 PM ET

Bogotá, October 19, 2012--The
Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the official harassment of two executives
of a Bolivian newspaper that has reported on government corruption in the northern
department of Pando. Both journalists sought refuge in Brazil for three days after
the episode, according to news reports.

Wilson García Mérida, the
founder, editor, and owner of the biweekly Sol de Pando, and his general manager, Silvia Antelo, fled the department capital of
Cobija on October 13 and stayed in the adjacent Brazilian border town of
Brasilea after they were harassed twice by investigators who said they were
from the police and prosecutor's office, according to news reports and Franz
Chávez, coordinator for the La Paz-based Bolivian
Press Association. The journalists said they fled the country
because they feared arrest, Chávez told CPJ.

The journalists were in
Cobija to distribute the latest edition of Sol
de Pando, which covers government, the indigenous population, and social
affairs in the department of Pando. Investigators began to follow them and
photograph them, and later that day, arrived at their hotel in Cobija with an
order to leave, García told reporters on Sunday.

Pedro Melgar, the secretary
of legal affairs for the Pando government, told CPJ that there had been no
effort by local authorities to harass them or prevent the distribution of the
paper.

Antelo told CPJ that she
left Brazil on Tuesday and flew to the Bolivian capital of La Paz and that
García had returned to his home in Cochabamba. She said they both intended
to remain in Bolivia and to continue publishing Sol de Pando but that they feared further government harassment.

Sol de Pando has reported on government corruption in the
past, and both the paper and its editor, García, have been targeted by Bolivian
officials. Richard Flores, a former congressman and a brother of Pando Gov.
Luis Adolfo Flores, has sued García for defamation in connection with reports in Sol de Pando that alleged he
improperly received work contracts from the government, Melgar told CPJ. Flores denied the allegations. García claimed that in June 2011, the governor
had ordered the confiscation of about 2,000 copies of Sol de Pando that included stories about government corruption. A
government official denied the accusation.

"The management of Sol de Pando should not face
intimidation because of the paper's coverage of sensitive issues," Carlos
Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, said from New York. "Authorities in
Pando department should halt the harassment immediately and allow the paper to
circulate freely."

Bolivian government
officials and critical media outlets have clashed before. In August, authorities
filed a criminal complaint filed against three media outlets and accused them
of inciting racism and discrimination in connection with their coverage of a
speech by President Evo Morales.

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